CHILDREN could one day be given a "taste test" that will show if they are likely to grow into alcoholics, a scientist claims.

CHILDREN could one day be given a "taste test" that will show if they are likely to grow into alcoholics, a scientist claims.

New research suggests that people at risk of alcoholism have a dislike of salty and sour tastes.

Previous studies in both animals and humans have revealed a strong link between high alcohol consumption and a sweet tooth.

Scientists in the United States gave 112 non-alcoholic volunteers aged 18 to 40 a series of salty and sour solutions to taste.

Interviews were carried out to establish if the participants had any close relatives with alcohol problems. Of the group, 45 had alcoholic fathers, putting them at greater risk of becoming drink dependent themselves. They were classified as "paternal history positive" (PHP).

The remainder, who did not have alcoholic fathers, were classified as "paternal history negative" (PHN).

PHP individuals rated salty solutions as less pleasurable than PHN participants, the scientists found. They were also more sensitive to sour tastes, finding them more unpleasant.

The findings, reported in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, are not yet fully understood.

But chief scientist Dr Alexei Kampov-Polevoy, from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York city, said that they may one day provide a test for alcoholism.

"I think it is important for the reader to know that the creation of such a test is not as far away as one might think."